U.S. Condemns Mexico Drug Violence That Kills Three Tied to U.S. Consulate

The White House issued a statement Sunday pledging support for Mexico's government to break drug trafficking in the country after recent violence took the lives of three people associated with the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Jaurez.

The three individuals, not named by the National Security Council, were a U.S. citizen employee, her U.S. citizen husband, and the husband of a Mexican citizen employee, according to NSC spokesman Mike Hammer.

"The president is deeply saddened and outraged by the news of the brutal murders of three people associated with the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico," Hammer said in a statement.

"He extends his condolences to the families and condemns these attacks on consular and diplomatic personnel serving at our foreign missions. In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice."

Meanwhile, the State Department told U.S. government employees at six U.S. consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area. The six consulates are in the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

The department said in a statement Sunday that recent violent attacks have led the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to advise American citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua.

"The situation in the state of Chihuahua, specifically Ciudad Juarez, is of special concern," reads the State Department's travel advisory. "U.S. citizens should pay close attention to their surroundings while traveling in Ciudad Juarez, avoid isolated locations during late night and early morning hours, and remain alert to news reports."

Drug-related violence has killed almost 18,000 people throughout Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug traffickers in December 2006. Most of the killings have been among rival smugglers, according to the federal government. The State Department noted that more than 2,600 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez in 2009. The city of 1.3 million people also had more than 16,000 car thefts and 1,900 carjackings last year.

The U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, which lies across the border of El Paso, Texas, was closed last week after a bomb threat.

"This is a responsibility we must shoulder together, particularly in border communities where strong bonds of history, culture, and common interest bind the Mexican and the American people closely together," Hammer said.